(Xinhua) -- Yemeni tribesmen have kidnapped a Japanese engineer who serves the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) northeast of the capital Sanaa, a provincial official said on Monday. The official told Xinhua that Yemeni tribesmen had kidnapped a Japanese engineer in the Arhab district which is located about 60 km northeast of Sanaa.
A source at the Japanese embassy told Xinhua that "the kidnapping incident occurred when the engineer was on a working visit to one of the projects financed by JICA"
The official, who asked not to be named said "negotiations are underway with the kidnappers to release the Japanese architect" and predicted it could be released in the near future.
"They (the kidnappers) want their relatives jailed (in Yemen) to be released," the official said.
The tribal source said "the kidnappers ask the Yemeni government to release members of the tribe who were put in prison by the government."